The Proposal: Reese's Book Club

As someone who lived in LA, this story is made so much better by the strong sense of place. The Von's supermarket, Stella in Silverlake, Dodger's Stadium... it's a great read and a carlos Ibarra is one of the most delightful love interests I've been able to meet in awhile. Fun, cute story, great strong themes and engaging side-plots.

I purchased this after seeing it on Reese W. Book Club list and I really enjoyed it. I feel that it's a nice, light read but it was lacking in some ways. I would've loved more details on some of the characters like Fisher, Angela and even the main character, Nik but the writing fell flat on character development. I LOVE the fact that the main character is a woman of color, I felt like similar books always lack diversity and the story ends up being the same story over and over again. The end felt rushed to me but overall, it was a good book and I think a follow up on Nik and Carlos would be great.

Where this novel excels is in bringing diversity to the genre of romance. There is racial diversity, there is a black lesbian character of significance and I feel like the diversity and inclusion in this novel doesn’t rely on tropes, which is good. I also get a degree of the fact that race and romance are an own voices theme for this author. I overall didn’t mind the premise and it was an enjoyable book to read, if a little jarring.I think the intention with this book was good. It read like the author had a really good premise and some excellent themes she wanted to cover in advance. The issue was that not all the themes fitted in seamlessly with the plot. For example, the way Carlos dealt with grief was seamless, it fitted. On the other hand, the theme of emotional abuse and it’s impact was dealt with in a really janky way. Maybe it’s just that Justin (Nik’s many times removed ex) was such a distant concept in the novel, but I did not buy that he was a reason Nik’s emotional stuntedness because of her characterization. I don’t think it was suitably explained why she was so afraid of love.I also had some issues with the plotting of this novel. I felt like a “Punch Like A Girl” self-defense class plot point was introduced and then sort of abandoned through most of the novel and then in the end, it was used to beat us over the head with the message. And the feminist messages and education about emotional abuse is one that I believed in and agreed with, but I don’t feel like it was delivered with much (or any) sensitivity or creativity. And coming near the end like it did, it felt like the author hadn’t been able to suitably include the messages she wanted, so she just got on her soapbox at the end and literally told us everything she wanted us to know in essay format by editorializing Nik’s internal monologue.Another thing I struggled with was the language and dialogue. I don’t claim to be an expert in how men talk but I kept getting pulled out of the story because I kept feeling like “which men talk like that?” And maybe that was intentional by the author to break stereotypes of how men talk and how women talk but when Carlos and Drew would discuss anything, it was a little jarring.My final beef with this novel was the fact that I just didn’t find the heroine sympathetic. There was something off about her character development and by the end, I still couldn’t tell who she was. I’m not a person who thinks that fictional heroines have to be likable but in romance, it is kinda sorta part of the job description. I couldn’t tell who she was and what she wanted and I felt the same way about her friends. What were their motivations? What was their end game? For Carlos, I could see that he was motivated by family and he wanted to look after everyone but what did Nik really want? I could never tell.If you’re looking for diverse romance, this is an okay read. The Wedding Date is closely related and there are lots of references to it so you should definitely read that first for a better understanding of Carlos and Drew in this one.

Jasmine Guillory became an insta-buy author for me about 1/3 of the way through her first book (The Wedding Date is amazing and you should read it now) and this follow up did not disappoint. You don't need to have read The Wedding Date to read this one (but again I urge you to), but you'll see characters from that book pop up here and it means more when they do.I was delighted to get Carlos's story in this book and introduced to a trio of new ladies, although it's Nik who is the heroine of this story. Even though there are some familiar tropes happening in this story (casual relationship turns out to be not so casual; people with trust and commitment issues freak out over having feels for each other), I like the ways the character development made those interesting. Carlos and Nik are written so well that I got their issues. I felt like their friends: I can see that they're meant to be together but I also know enough of their history to know why it's hard for them and that they just need time (and a little encouragement) to figure it out for themselves. It makes it all the more satisfying when they get together at the end.I also like how the author doesn't skimp on the secondary characters. We don't get as much detail on them but they're not cardboard cutouts only there to further the main plot. I know I'm hoping one of them will be the star of the next book!I will say I liked The Wedding Date just a tad more. Because it featured a black heroine and a white hero, there were racial issues covered in a really seamless way that made the story stand out. This story has a Hispanic hero and a black heroine, so there is less need for those topics to be addressed (it gets touched on but not with as much depth). It's not that this book needed that; I just appreciated the realism that it brought to her first book. I can't wait to read what she writes next!

I don’t read much romance, as I have mentioned before, but I enjoy books like this where there is a good balance between the plot, the characters, the romance and humor. In fact, I will venture to say that the only romance books I do enjoy are those with a healthy dash of humor.What drew me to this book was the character of Nikole, mostly because this is my name and spelling and it was the very first time I had ever come across a character who share this unique spelling with me. Even if the summary didn’t stand out as particularly interesting…I still wanted to read this for the name alone.And honestly, I am glad I gave this a shot. It wasn’t a particularly excellent read, but it was entertaining in all the right places. It was sexy, romantic and funny in all the right balances and I throughly enjoyed it. It was a really great summer read, especially this summer where things are so weird.This was the first book I have read by Jasmine Guillory but I will keep her books on my radar, especially when I am in need for some good rom coms to keep me entertained. I will also be super stoked if this was ended up being adapted for a movie.Rating: Four stars

Really nice 👌 and refreshing!

A romance with both a believable love story and well developed characters AND girlfriend power?! Yes, please. Delightful read. Just hit the buy button.

Read the first book, The Wedding Date, and really enjoyed it. Couldn't wait to read, The Proposal. I like the authors story telling. It combines humour and romance and strong characters. I read a review describing this book as a "charming, warm, sexy Gem of a novel". I couldn't agree more. A fun and enjoyable read. Shared both the Wedding Date and Proposal with my bestie. She loved them too!

Es un libro entretenido, pero no me encantó. Está lleno de clichés, tantos que incluso use un resaltador para marcarlos. Es la típica historia de amor donde una chica conoce a un chico, creen que será solo sexo pero al final uno de los dos se enamora. Sería un excelente película dominguera, como libro es algo que leería en el avión sin sentirme mal de dejarlo olvidado.

Esse é o segundo livro que leio da Jasmine Guillory, quando li The Wedding Date, eu AMEI a história que a autora trouxe, por isso eu estava mais que ansiosa para poder ler o quanto antes The Proposal... E felizmente, Jasmine me surpreendeu, com uma história divertida, cheia de humor, um romance bem legal de se acompanhar.Eu senti que deveria colocar Jasmine e seus livros no meu radar, por que as histórias dela parecem ter tudo o que eu gosto, que são aqueles clichês que nós já bem conhecemos, histórias com muito humor e que apesar de te rum drama ou outro sabemos que no fim tudo vai dar certo. Mas Jasmine me chamou a atenção, por um ponto em especifico, a diversidade de seus personagens, histórias que muitas das vezes são contadas por um protagonismo branco, aqui temos personagens negros, mulheres incríveis e determinadas, e tudo isso é trabalha de uma forma natural sem que essas características sejam o fio condutor da trama.The Proposal é o segundo livro as série, The Wedding Date, mas na minha opinião você pode ler esse livro sem ter lido o primeiro, apesar de que personagens de The Wedding Date acabam aparecendo aqui. Em The Proposal, somos apresentados a Nik, que está em um jogo beisebol, com seu namorado – de 5 meses – até que ela é surpreendida com um pedido de casamento, e é ai que as coisas começam a dar errado, uma vez que ela acaba rejeitando o pedido, e passa a ser vista como a ruim da história e uma quantidade absurda de gente (um estádio lotado de beisebol) passa a julgá-la por isso, mas graças a Carlos e sua irmã, Angie eles conseguem tirar Nik dessa confusão, e leva-la para o consolo de suas amigas e é a partir daqui que acompanharemos Carlos e Nik.Acompanhar esses dois foi uma experiência divertida, ver como ambos os personagens que começaram como amigos, para se tornar algo mais, e descobrirem um no outro e em si mesmo que podem amar e serem amados, é lindo. Nik e Carlos passam por problemas pessoas, que moldam suas atitudes enquanto pessoas, Carlos é espontâneo, porém fechado para a família, está tentando lidar com a vida após perder alguém importante e acha que deve assumir um papel o qual ele não estava preparado. Enquanto Nik apesar de ter todo o ar de mulher determinada, ela tem seus receios, experiências de relacionamento anteriores abalaram e fizeram com que ela passasse a duvidar de seu próprio potencial tanto enquanto profissional como mulher.Jasmine com uma narrativa descontraída, nos proporciona uma história que aquece corações, é viciante, mas que aborda tópicos importantes sem perder o ritmo de sua narrativa, sem que a história se torna-se algo “pesado”. Estou ansiosa para ler mais coisas da autora!